Goolsby-Rosenthal Chair in Economics and Law, University of Texas Arlington

Bruce Yandle is most well-known for his “Baptists and Bootleggers” theory of regulation—the joining of seeming opposing forces who support the same government policies—developed in the 1980s. Policy making is not just the result of high-minded and well-intentioned reformers seeking to do good, or just the influence of special interests seeking to exploit the power of government, but rather an odd, often unintentional, combination of the two. Yandle utilized this theory to examine a variety of regulations, including environmental policy, and to expertly communicate the complexities of policy making to a broader audience.

Yandle has influenced his colleagues as well as new generations of scholars and policy makers through his academic research while at Clemson University, experiences in industry and federal government, and his ability to communicate complex ideas to broad audiences.

Panelists will reflect on Yandle’s contributions to academia and policy as well as his impact on their thinking and career trajectory.

Bruce Yandle, a Georgia native, is dean emeritus of the Clemson College of Business and Behavioral Sciences (where he was a professor of economics from the 1960s through the remainder of his career), and was executive director of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and senior economist on the President’s Council on Wage and Price Stability in the 1980s.

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